Congratulations to our current year 12 student Alyssa Weston and staff member Mr David Nugent on their Australia Day Awards.

Pictured: City of Casey Mayor Cr Sam Aziz, Councillors Steve Beardon, Wayne Smith, Susan Serey, Rosalie Crestani, Damien Rosario, Timothy Jackson, Amanda Stapledon and Rex Flannery, Member for South Eastern Metropolitan Region Inga Peulich and the 2017 Casey Australia Day Award recipients.

Casey Young Citizen of the Year – Alyssa Weston
Alyssa is an outstanding member of the Casey community and is well-known at the Casey Basketball Association for her commendable attributes on and off the court.   At only 16 years of age, Alyssa plays for the Casey Cavaliers representative junior and senior teams and is Big V women’s development player. In addition to working part-time and studying at Hallam Senior College with the selective sports academy, Alyssa is a dedicated coach for young girls, representative teams and children with autism.  Alyssa devotes herself wholeheartedly to the sport of basketball and she is a powerful presence on and off the court, working hard to increase the profile of female participation in basketball.  She is an exceptional role model for young people and girls in Casey in the field of sport and beyond.

Casey Non-resident of the Year – David Nugent
David Nugent founded Heavy M.E.T.A.L. (Men’s Education Towards Anger & Life) which offers behaviour change programs and counselling support to men, women and children affected by family violence.  He runs the Heavy METAL program at Hallam Senior College and goes over and above in his role as a counsellor.  David is passionate about creating a safer community and offers support to vulnerable individuals and families.  He organised a community screening of the ABC documentary “Call Me Dad”, is involved in White Ribbon Day events and advocates to State Government on important community issues. David works tirelessly in promoting healthy relationships, raising awareness of family violence issues in the community, educating others and making a difference.

Visit: http://www.casey.vic.gov.au/council/awards/australia-day-awards to find out more about who received the awards on Australia Day.